Machine for unwinding cylindrical cotton-bales.



No. 654,086. Patelitd lu|y I7, |900. L. A. AUMANN. MACHINE FUR UNWINDING-CYLINDRICAL COTTON 4BLES. (Application filed Dec. 7, 1899.) (No Modal.)

nulli"i IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllll'lIHHl 7 LOUIS A. AUMANN, OF CHICOPEE, MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR UNWINDING CYLINDRICAL COTTON-BALES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 654,086, dated July 17, 1900.

Application filed December '7, 1899. Serial No.739,562. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LoUIs A. AUMANN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Chicopee, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Machines for Unwindin g Cylindrical Cotton-Bales, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cotton machinery, and particularly to a machine for opening cylindrical bales of cotton and delivering the fiber in condition to be fed to the openers, so called.

Cylindrical cotton-bales consist of a lap of cotton wound up underheavy pressure around a small arbor to the required diameter. To open up a bale thus formed, various devices have been used to unwind the lap from the bale, the cotton falling in folds on the iioor and then being gathered up by the operatives and thrown in pieces into the openers. Owing to the enormous compression of the fiber at and near the center of the bale it is found that in the unwinding process, as the bale is reduced in diameter, the cotton will not unwind without assistance from the operative, and if the lap becomes broken its end remaining on the bale will be rolled into the surface thereof and is lost, and the lap must be torn therefrom by hand and the unwinding started again. As a consequence each bale requires the constant atten tion of an operative during the unwinding of the last third of its diameter, which renders the handling of bales of this form expensive.

The object of this invention is to obviate these difficulties and to provide a machine in which these bales may be unwound from beginning to end without a break and, further, to disintegrate the hard compressed lap and deliver the cotton in a partially-opened-up condition in front of the openers.

The invention consists in the construction described in the following specification and pointed out particularly in the claims.

In the drawings forming part of this speciiication,Figure l is a side elevation of a machine embodying this invention. Fig. 2 is a Vertical longitudinal section through Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective View of a portion of a toothed apron forming part of the machine.

This machine comprises two parallel rolls 1 and 2, mounted to rotate on a suitable frame 3 in proximity to eachother and in the same horizontal plane. On these rolls the cylindrical cotton-bales 4are supported. A driving-shaft 5 is located on the frame somewhat below the rolls 1 and 2, midway between them, on one end of which is a pinion 6 and on the opposite end a driving-pulley 7. On the shafts of said rolls 1 and 2 are located two gears 8 and 9, adapted to mesh with the pinion 6, whose rotation will impart to said rolls rotatory movements in the same direction, and thus impart a rolling movement to the cotton-bale 4, resting on saidl rolls. In proximity to the roll 2 two drawing-rolls 10 and l1 are arranged parallel Awith said roll 2, the roll 10 rotating in bearings in the frame and the roll 11 being supported in the ends of two arms l2, pivoted to the lower part of the frame at 13. The roll 11 in the end of these arms is spring-pressed toward the roll 10 by means of two springs 14 14, attached to the frame by one end and their opposite ends attached to rods 15, extending to and secured to the said arms, all as shown clearly in the drawings. v

Suitable means, as the. turnlouckle 1G, maybe used for adjusting the tension of the springs to increase'or diminish the pressure of the roll 11 against the roll 10. On the end of said roll 10 is a gear 17, in mesh with the gear 9 on the roll 2, whereby a rotary movement is imparted to the roll 10 in a direction contrary to that of said roll 2, and the relative dimensions of the gears 9 and 17 are such that the circumferential speed of the roll 10 will exceed that of the'rolls 1 and 2, which rotate at the same speed. The roll 11, above referred to, may be iiuted, as shown, or not, as desired.

When a bale of .cotton is placed Ion the rolls 1 and 2 and the end of the cotton-lap introduced between the rolls 10 and 11, the rotation of said rolls 1 and 2 will cause the bale to rotate in a direction necessaryA to effect its unwinding, and the rolls 10 and 11, having asomewhat-greater circumferential speed than have the rolls 1 and 2, as stated, will always exert a drawing tension on the cotton-lap as it unwinds from the bale.

From between the rolls 10 andlll the cotton- IOO 45 25, as canvas.

lap is fed into the upper end of the trough-or spout 18, the bottom of which is downwardly inclined toward the rear side of the trough, a deliveryslot 19 extending across the back lower edge of the trough, through which the cotton-lap drawn from the roll may pass out.

The lower edge of said rearwardly-inclined` bottom of the trough serves as a point of re-,

sistance, against which the lap of cotton may ro be disintegrated by the action of a moving toothed apron 20, to be described. Said trough is of substantially the same width as the rolls l0 and ll,which in turnare slightly Said apronis upwardly inclined and is located near said longer than the cotton-bale.

rolls 10 and 11, its lowerend being supported on a drum 2l, the shaft of which runs in suitable bearings on each side of the frame. Said frame is of the same width as the zo trough 18 and is so located that the operative surface thereof runs close to the end of the trough 1S, the edge of t-he rearwardly-inclined bottom thereof forming asharp angle relative to the course of the apron.` This apron may be of any desired length and is adapted to not only disintegrate the closelypacked fibers of the lap, thus preparing the material for said openers without subjecting it` to any intervening operation, but it 3o has the further capability andl function of conveying the thus disintegrated cottonto a point from which it may be fed into the openers or to conveyer mechanism, whereby it may be delivered to said machines located 3 5 at some distance therefrom.

In the accompanying drawings the upper end` of the apron is shown supported on a drum 22, similar in all respects to that which supports the lower end, and the shaft of said 4o drum 22 may be supported on suitable posts 23 or in any other suitable way. A drivingpulley 24 is fixed to the shaft of this drum 22.

The apron 20 is made of a series of slatsor strips of wood secured to some ieXible belt (See Fig. 4.) The slats are arranged thereon parallel with and close to each other and parallel with the axis of the drums over 'which the apron runs, and in these slats are xed the teeth 26, forwardly 5o inclined relative to the direction of their movement.

The driving-pulley 24 is adapted to impart to the apron 2O a superficial speed greater than the speed of delivery of the cotton-lap thereto by the rolls 10 and ll, to the end that the lap as it is fed down through the opening in the rearside of the trough may be engaged by the teeth 26 of the apron, whereby the compact fibers may be separated and be torn in' 6o small bunches from the lap and carried up to and over the drum 22, from which point it may drop to the floor, as shown, onto a conveyer mechanism. The teeth 26 are spaced far enough apart to prevent any cotton from Aadhering thereto as they pass over the upper drum and are made sharp and smooth and straight.

The ends of the rolls and the bale are inclosed between two perpendicular sides 27,

lmounted on the `frameof the machine, and the sides of the apron are inclosed between two rsidepieces 2 8,also secured to the frame.

This machine greatly facilitates the handling of cylindrical cotton-bales and adapts itself to the requirements of any conveyer mechanism for carrying the disintegrated ,fibers to the openers and saves considerable .manual labor heretofore employed in tearing up the lap of, cotton fronlsaidr bales toprepare it for feeding into theopeners.

Having thus described my invention,what

I claim, and desire to secure by LettersPattent of the UnitedStates, is-

l. Unwinding mechanism for cylindrical cotton-bales `comprising bale-supporting rolls adapted to rotate in unison in thesame direction, drawing-rolls supported in proximity to said rst-namedrolls, said drawing-rolls having a greater circumferential speedthan said supporting-rolls, an apron adaptedto receive the cotton-lap from said drawing-rolls, and

`movable at a speed in excess of the speedof delivery of saiddrawing-rolls, andmeans for supporting said cottonflap in proximity to,

and against the action` of, said apron, substantially as` described.`

2. Unwinding mechanism for, cylindrical cotton-bales, comprising bale-su pportin g rolls adapted to rotate in unison for unwinding a bale, drawing-rolls having a greater circumferential speed than said first-.namedrolls and comprising one roll supported iixedly onthe machine and one yieldingly held against said `ixed roll; an upwardly-inclined` apron hav.-

`from the machine, means for supporting the cotton against the action of` the apronand for feeding the cotton to the latter at a slower rate of speed than that attainedbythe apron, substantially as described.

Louis A. AUM-ANN.

lVitnesses: Y

WM. I-I. CHAPI K. I. CLEMoNs.

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